In a move that further reflects the appeal of UK real estate, particularly in the so-called “Northern Powerhouse” belt that runs between the cities of Liverpool, Manchester and Leeds, Lateral House is 95,000 sq-ft of Grade A office space to the south of Leeds city centre – in an area that is subject to a number of ambitious redevelopment plans in the coming decade. The building was previously owned by a Germany investment trust.

“We are increasingly seeing demand from GCC-based investors for the yield provided by regional UK commercial real estate,” commented Paul Maisfield, head of real estate at ADIB UK. “While London’s long-term property investment story is well-established, cities such as Leeds are growing quickly and have commercial property providing solid rates of return. The ADIB UK team has the market knowledge and expertise to identify high-quality assets, advising clients on prospective property opportunities and structuring tailored Sharia’a-compliant financing solutions with a minimal turnaround time.”

In 2017, investment volumes across the UK’s six largest regional markets of Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds and Bristol were the highest for over a decade. Data released by JLL shows that office investment volumes in these cities totalled AED14.3 billion in 2017, a rise of 49 percent on 2016. Manchester led the way for the year as a whole, with volumes of AED4.5 billion.

Earlier this year, ADIB arranged a structured Islamic financing transaction to fund the acquisition of The Hub, located at the Aztec West Business Park, Bristol, for AED159.4 million on behalf of a private Saudi based client.